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| Saturday, 14 June 2003 |
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The Government has decided to allocate Rs. 46 million as compensation for Tea Factory owners who had suffered damage to their factories and lost stocks of tea including green leaves during the recent floods, the office of the Government spokesman said in a statement yesterday. Seventeen tea factories had suffered major damage while four other factories had suffered minor damage due to the floods. Factory owners had also encountered financial difficulties with regard to repayments to tea smallholders for supplies of green leaves, the statement further said. The Sri Lanka Tea Board is currently assessing the value of green leaves and produced tea stocks lost due to the floods in the damaged tea factories. According to tentative estimates the total loss in this respect is estimated at Rs. 46 million. The Tea Board was due to finalise its report yesterday. Payment of compensation will begin as soon as the cabinet approval is obtained for the compensation scheme, the release added. Earlier Plantation Industries Minister in his Cabinet paper stated that twenty seven tea factories situated in Galle, Matara and Ratnapura districts had been damaged by the recent floods. The Tea Commissioner of Sri Lanka Tea Board has made an inquiry with regard to the damaged factories and prepared a report in detail. In the said inquiry, it is reported that 53,966 kg of green leaf and 305,953 kg of made tea had been damaged in addition to the damages caused to buildings and machineries of the factories. The total value of the stocks is Rs. 45.9 million. Moreover, the damage caused to buildings and machinery of the factories is estimated to be Rs. 3,807,300. Measures have been taken to grant loans under the Tea Development Project for rehabilitation of the damage caused to the buildings and the machinery. However, an action should be taken to reimburse the value of the damaged green leaf and made tea, to the smallholders the Cabinet paper stated. Moreover, since it is reported that the lands in extent 5,000 hectares of the smallholders had been affected by the floods, their income is also in danger. It is a fact that seriously affect to the smallholders as well as decrease of the tea production under this situation. The gross expenditure for tea re-planting in 5,000 hectares is estimated to be approximately Rs. 4 billion, it stated. |
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